Comment by Wowfunhappy 2 days ago
> The MacBook Air mentioned (2014) will install Mavericks when booted into recovery mode anyway (unless you use Option-Command-R which will give you the newest compatible version which is Big Sur).
Certain 2014 Macbook Airs, including my own, will install Yosemite instead in recovery mode for some reason, even though obviously I'm using Mavericks and it runs fine.
> Should have said mid-2014 like OP, sorry
I don't want to belabor the point, but just to be clear—I am referring to a mid-2014 MBA, anything newer and Mavericks wouldn't work! (There is no "late 2014" MBA as far as I'm aware.) Mine offers to install Yosemite in recovery mode.
It may indeed be based on when that specific computer came off of the assembly line or something, I have no idea, but for that exact model of computer you can get different results in recovery mode!
I guess I was also confused about the different recovery modes as pointed out by aspenmayer below.
I used Shift+Option+Command+R (or hold Option and choose WiFi instead of disk) which is internet recovery using the macOS version that came pre-installed (or closest)
Whereas Command+R is local recovery which might be any macOS version that last changed the local recovery environment.
There are multiple boot-time recovery options, but you might not have a required firmware update to use them. Per everymac, all 2014 MBA’s should be able to run up to Big Sur?
What is offered to install when you do this?
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-macos-recovery-...
> Option-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall macOS and upgrade to the latest version of macOS that’s compatible with your Mac.
https://everymac.com/systems/by_capability/maximum-macos-sup...
> MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.4 11" (Early 2014)11 (Big Sur)
> MacBook Air "Core i7" 1.7 11" (Early 2014)11 (Big Sur)
> MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.4 13" (Early 2014)11 (Big Sur)
> MacBook Air "Core i7" 1.7 13" (Early 2014)11 (Big Sur)
When updating to the new macOS, firmware updates that govern the pre-boot and recovery environment are changed/updated, and you can downgrade macOS again afterwards. You can usually install the firmware updates without updating macOS, but finding them is usually the harder part. You could probably swap hard drives to a scratch SSD if you wanted to update your firmware via updating macOS entirely without affecting your live install, or install macOS on a USB drive, which should not affect your internal SSD install, but like all upgrades, have a backup or pull the internal SSD.
I don’t know, I’ve performed numerous updates from the pre-installed Mavericks (Yosemite, El Capitan, High Sierra, Big Sur are the ones I remember, might be more), but the default recovery still goes into Mavericks for me
Good to know. Mine is from June 2014 (assembly, since it’s a custom configuration). Sorry for missing your point.
I think it depends on what was the current version when your model came out. Should have said mid-2014 like OP, sorry